Call or alarm device for hotels or other buildings.



No. 756,408. PATENTED APR. 5, 1904.

R H. REED.

CALL OR ALARM DEVICE FOR HOTELS OR OTHER BUILDINGS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 4. 1902.

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UNITED STATES Patented April 5, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

HARVEY REED, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO WILLIAMM. STONE, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

CALL OR ALARM DEVICE FOR HOTELS OR OTHER BUILDINGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 756,408, dated April 5,1904. Application filed September 4, 1902. Serial No. 122,082. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern: Be it known that I, HARVEY REED, a citizenof the United States, residing at Minneapolis, I

in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Call or Alarm Devices for Hotels or otherBuildings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object to provide tallic contact-bars 9', ofwhich in practice there would usually be one for each guest-morn.

For each room-bar 1' there is .a series of separated contact-pieces h.All of the contactpieces it of a given horizontal row are electricallyconnected in any suitable wayas, for instance, by short wires 70.

Electrical contact may be made between any one of the contact-pieces hand its respective room-bars r by a removable plug 19. On theswitchboard Z), as shown, above the upper row of contact-pieces it is ametallic strip or common bus-bar I), which is electrically connected tosignaling devices located in the several rooms, as will be hereinafterfully described.-

In each guest-room is placed an annunciator or signal device, includingan electricallyactuated bell g, preferably of ordinary construction andwhich, as shown, is secured to an insulating-support g, to which ispivoted a switch-lever m. The switch-lever on cooperates with a pair ofcontact pins m and m and is yieldingly held at the left in contact withthe pin m by means of a spring m The purpose of this switch will appearlater on. Each bell g has the ordinary binding-post 9 one of which isconnected to the correspondlng roombar by a leadlng-wlre n. The swltchesof the several annunciatlng devices are all, connected to the commonbusbar I) by a lead-wire a. The bell-magnets g are electricallyconnected to the two binding-posts g by short wires of, and thebinding-posts 9 to which the lead-wires a do not connect, are connectedto the contact-pins m by short wires n A miniature electric lamp t isplaced in a shunt t, which leads from the corresponding Alarger electriclamp t is connected in a circuit t which leads from thebell-circuit.

switch m and the contact-pin m and includes a battery or source, ofelectrical energy t.

The said element t may be either a battery or tery or source ofelectrical energy 8 through leads 8 one of which leads has branches 8arranged in pairs and normally broken by switches s. As shown, there arethree such switches s and these may be assumed to be located one in thejanitors room or basement, another in the office, and another in thehall of a building. (Not shown.) At one end of the solenoid s is asupporting-plate of insulating material, and working therethrough andinto the solenoid is a soft-iron armature or needle .9, to the outer endof which is secured a metallic contact-bar 8 As shown, the contact-bar sis provided at its ends with guide-pins 8 that work through said plate 8Light springs s", placed on the guide-pins s yieldingly hold thecontact-bar s substantially as shown in the drawing. This contact-bar sis connected by a lead-wire 8 to the common bus-bar b. On the insulatingplate or support 8 is a plurality of contactfingers s, which areinsulated from each other and of which there is one for each room thatis, one for each room-bar and annunciating device. The contact-fingers sare connected by lead-wires 8 one to each of the room-bars 7'.

The solenoid and circuit-closing device may be located at any convenientpoint, but preferably in the ofiice. A battery or source of electricalenergy .9 is interposed in the lead- Wire 8 The several horizontalseries of contact-pieces h are connected to a common battery or sourceof electrical energy 20 by wires w, and the said battery in turn isconnected to the common bus-bar b by a'wire 2 0 Operation: Whenever thebell-circuit, including the leads n and n, is closed by the insertion ofthe plug p between one of the roombars r and one of the contact-piecesh, as illustrated, for instance,at the upper left-hand corner of theswitchboard, the bell will of course be sounded and simultaneouslytherewith the miniature lamp t will be lighted. This miniature lamp willgive sufiicient light to enable the occupant of the roomto find his Wayreadily to the alarm device or to any other part of the room. When thebell-circuit is closed, as above stated, the current will flow from thebattery 'w through the wire m bus-bar 6, lead n, switch m, wire of,through the bell-magnets, thence through the wire n lead a, theconnected-room-bar r, contact n, and wire w back to the battery. Aportion of the current will, as already stated, flow through theshunt-circuit 2?. If the occupant of a room wishes more light than isafforded by the miniature lamp t, it may be obtained by throwing theswitched end over into contact with the contact-pin n thereby throwinginto action the larger lamp t This movement of the switch on also throwsthe alarm device out of action.

A general alarm is turned in whenever one of the switches 8* is closed.When this is done, the solenoid s is energized and, acting on thesoft-iron needle 5 draws the contactplate 8 into contact with all of thecontactfingers s, and thereby closes all of the annunciated circuits andcauses all of the bellsg to be sounded and all of the miniature lamps tobe lighted from electrical energy aiiorded by a battery 8. Y

It will of course be understood that the device described is capable ofmodification within the scope of my invention herein set forth andclaimed. For instance, the contact-fingers 8 might be carried by a partsubject to the solenoid and be made to engage with a fixedcontact-strip, which would be reversible of the construction illustratedin the drawings.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is as follows:

1. A guest-call comprising a bell and a lamp in the guests room, anelectric circuit including said bell and lamp, whereby they may besimultaneously thrown into action, said circuit extending from theguests room to a calling-station, a switch located in the guests roomand normally closing the said bell-circuit, a second electric lamp alsolocated in the guests room, an electric circuit including said secondlamp which latter circuit is normally opened and is adapted to be closedby a movement of said switch required to open the bellcircuit, and meansindependent of said switch for opening and closing the saidbell-circuit, substantially as described.

2. A fire alarm or general-call device comprising a solenoid, and acontrolling-circuit involving one or more switches, an armature orneedle subject to said solenoid, a plurality of contact-fingers, acontact-bar engageable with all of said fingers, under the direct actionof said solenoid and armature, electric bells located in differentrooms, and circuit connections includingsaid bells, said contactfingersand said contact-bar, whereby all of said bells may be simultaneouslythrown into action, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

- HARVEY REED.

Witnesses:

E. H. KELIHER, FRANK D. MERCHANT.

